Truck, tanker drivers shun terminal because of N1,000 parking fee

The Manager of Orile Parking Terminal, Mr Timothy Nkeonye, has complained about persistent low patronage of the terminal. They said truck and tanker drivers avoid payment of N1,000 daily parking fee.

Nkeonye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday that the truck and tanker drivers rather preferred parking on the highways.

According to him, many of the drivers shun the Orile-Iganmu parking terminal to avoid paying N1,000 daily parking fee.

Nkeonye noted that the 3000-capacity terminal had been experiencing low patronage since it was constructed in 2007.

“The park is experiencing low patronage as the drivers park on the expressway to avoid paying the parking fee at the terminal. They (drivers) are very difficult to control. For now, the parking terminal can conveniently contain 600 tankers if the drivers obey parking rules, ‘’ the manager said.

Nkeonye appealed to relevant agencies to be more proactive in enforcing the traffic law that prohibited tankers from parking indiscriminately on the roads.

He suggested adequate enforcement to prohibit indiscriminate parking of trucks on the roads.

The manager also advocated punishment for offenders in order to adjust and abide by the rules.

He said: “Part of the terminal was waterlogged and the Lagos State Government had intervened to find lasting solution to the challenge.

“Some of the tankers drivers had no park but instead of parking in the terminal for convenience and safety, they decided to hang around the expressway before loading at the depots,’’ the manager said.

The manager appealed to owners of the tankers and trucks to always provide their drivers with parking fees in order to have convenient spaces before loading at Apapa depot.

“Some of them hid under the guise that the owners did not give them parking fees and they could not use their money to pay for the terminal, ’’ he said.

NAN reports that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had said that efforts were being made to place bars on some Lagos bridges to prevent indiscriminate parking of tankers and articulated vehicles on bridges.

Its State Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje, said that a committee was inaugurated to look into how owners of trucks and tankers could do their businesses without the vehicles climbing bridges in the state.

“We are working on how truck drivers can use the ground instead of climbing bridges in Lagos State to prevent accidents and traffic gridlock,’’ Omeje said.